


"Paths Cross"

by seventhstar



Series: rotational symmetry [3]
Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Character Swap, Gen, Missing Scene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-26
Updated: 2016-12-26
Packaged: 2018-09-12 06:32:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9059758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/seventhstar/pseuds/seventhstar
Summary: Kaito's POV of the beginning of "The Numbers Hunter".





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rangerhitomi](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rangerhitomi/gifts).



Yuuma’s obsession with food was beginning to wear on him.

Ever since the Tsukumos had adopted them, Kaito had found himself with a lot more free time. And since Yuuma was the reason the Tenjos had a home, daily meals, and any belongings at all, Kaito found himself unable to tell him “no” whenever he asked Kaito to hang out with him.

Kaito had found that Yuuma’s requests for dueling advice could be punted to Astral, who was satisfied to have someone to monologue at, and his requests for help with his homework to be only mildly annoying, since Kaito had gotten excellent grades in school. But the amount of time they spent wandering around Heartland City, eating whatever Yuuma could afford…

Today they were at the mall. Haruto walked between them, clinging to Yuuma’s hand. If Kaito was jealous that over the past three weeks, Haruto had latched onto Yuuma like a barnacle, he hid it well. Ever so often, Yuuma would point at something interesting in a shop window, and he had spent nearly an hour in the card shop, drooling over expensive rare cards and picking out booster packs. Mostly, though, he stopped at food stalls and ate.

At least Haruto was getting regular meals now. After a week with the Tsukumos, he now ate whenever anyone asked him to, and the hollows in his cheeks were beginning to fill out.

“Do you see Kotori?” Yuuma craned his neck, trying to see over the heads of taller people. Kaito could barely remember what Kotori, who was one of Yuuma’s enormous gaggle of middle school friends, looked like. “We were gonna all go to a movie. Does Haruto like Pokemon?”

Kaito nodded.

“Hey, my card’s been stolen!”

Both he and Yuuma reached for their decks as they turned towards the sound of the disturbance. There was a angry green-haired man yelling, and a crowd was gathered around him; Kaito saw a banner that promised autographs and photos with Pro-Duelist Chlorofiend and scoffed inwardly. He’d followed Chlorofiend’s career briefly, back when it had started, back when he and Chris — suffice to say it had been unimpressive.

Kaito shook the thoughts of Chris, who he made a point to never think about, off.

“We should go.”

“Wait, let me make sure I’ve still got all my cards…”

While Yuuma looked over his deck, Kaito listened in. It seemed that Chlorofiend’s famous rare card, Numbers 50: Blackship of Corn, was missing, and since Chlorofiend had had it during an exhibition match earlier, it had to have been stolen recently.

According to Astral, Numbers card only changed owners when the current owner was defeated in a duel. But since Kaito had defeated Yuuma and Yuuma still held Numbers 39: Aspiring Emperor Hope, it was clear that that was not always the case. He’d collected five more Numbers over the past three weeks, all of which he’d run into accidentally.

So far, Astral hadn’t remembered anything of importance; instead, he kept recalling trivia about Earth, which he insisted on sharing.

“What do you think?” Kaito asked out of the corner of his mouth.

“We should investigate,” Astral replied.

“I’ll have Orbital pull the security footage from the mall’s cameras tonight.”

“That is unnecessary.”

“Why?”

“Because I had already identified the thief. He is a male adolescent, dressed in purple, who just exited from the southernmost door.”

“You saw him steal the card?”

“No,” Astral replied. “But he spent several minutes observing us. I believe he could see me.”

No need to waste time reviewing all the footage, then, Kaito thought. If the thief knew about Astral, all Kaito had to do was wait. He’d come to them.

“Haruto.” Kaito knelt down in front of his brother. “Would you mind going to a movie with Yuuma and his friends? I need to run an errand.”


End file.
